Through Mennonite country

An early morning start on Wednesday May 27th.  I had now left the Trans Canada Trail for good and for the rest of my time in Canada would be using roads.

A morning's ride brought me through Fergus and into the town of Elora.  Here the advantages of entering Mennonite country began to be apparent when I was directed to a horse and buggy tethering point - I didn't have the buggy, but presumed it was not obligatory ..... 

 Lady rested with a small pile of left over hay while I sauntered off to a café in town for a coffee and internet access.  This resulted in the pleasing news that I was able to stay with Welsh pony breeder Yvonne Rijk Pankow whose family had recently emigrated from Holland to a farm near London, Ontario.  I needed base for a day to sort out the required veterinary tests to take Lady over the border into the USA. 

 

We soon started to see the occasional Mennonite horse-drawn buggy and I managed to sneak the odd photograph while trying to respect the Mennonite aversion to being snapped...

 

Ironically, considering she spent eight years of her life as a working harness horse, Lady's eyes were out on stalks the first time she saw one, as she had never actually seen a horse in harness.  But she soon became more blasé, though it took a while before she stopped neighing pathetically after them.

The Mennonites and Amish almost exclusively use speedy standardbred horses (used in trotting races) to pull their buggies, and fly past at tremendous speeds.

 

 As evening drew in, I flagged down a buggy and pair transporting a friendly Mennonite family to ask if there was somewhere we could stay overnight. They lived in the opposite direction, but the husband suggested another farm a bit further on, which is how I ended up hosted by Mennonites.  Paul and Naomi run a largely self sufficient farm with about twenty dairy cows, the usual crops, fruit trees and a neat vegetable garden, as well as a stable of six standardbred horses at the ready to pull their four buggies. A calf was moved from its pen in the barn to accommodate Lady, while the amiable Naomi welcomed me into the house.

She was joined in the large cool kitchen by the youngest of their three daughters, both wearing long flowery dresses, short boots and white mob caps, and an ample supper was laid on the table - the home grown bottled plums were particularly delicious.  Also present was the third and youngest son who had bicycled home from his work in a furniture company.  Carpentry businesses are quite common among Amish and Mennonites.  Paul contacted local journalist Sharon Grosch who came round to interview me - coincidentally she turned out to be the mother of Rebecca Grosch who I had met at the Wesley Clover Equestrian centre where she is a coach!  No photographs of course. A most pleasant evening chatting with a delightful and unassuming family, and after a relaxing bath I was shown to a tidy bedroom furnished with sturdy home-made furniture and slept like a log.

Thursday May 28th and another early start after breakfast provided by Naomi - the farm is in the background below....

 

I soon reached Wallenstein, where the shops were once again conveniently provided with hitching posts....

 

One of my main destinations here was Brubacker's Harness Store, which was an Aladdin's Cave of horsey equipment - just about everything you would ever hope to find in the equestrian line from full sets of harness and carts to English or Western or even Australian tack.  I had not been able to find suitable saddle bags to fit in front of my saddle, and I had been making do with a second set of the type I use behind.  But to my delight I found Brubacker's stocked the kind I had been looking for with separate pockets to hold my water bottles.




Unfortunately warnings such as these do not seem to encourage heavy traffic on the main roads to reduce speed....

A typical scene in Mennonite country....

 

Buggies in a Mennonite barn where Lady and I stopped for a lunch break out of the sun...

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While in Wallenstein I had received the dispiriting news that Yvonne was unable to host me after all as her dogs had been diagnosed with a contagious disease, and her vet had advised that no other animals should access her property.  A real blow as I now had nowhere arranged where I could get a breathing space to start organising the border crossing. Naturally I was feeling somewhat despondent.

But things soon started to look up again. Another Welsh pony breeder Diane Jackson, had put me in touch with her vet Tara Foy, and she gave me the details of a contact in Sarnia (where I intended to cross the border) who would not only be able to put me up for a few days, but would be willing to trailer me across the bridge into the US.
And then I bumped into Chris and Beverley....

who mentioned the Thistledown Equestrian Centre as a possible place to stay.  Having thought it was out of range, I discovered from them this was not so, and following a quick phone call to get the go-ahead, I determined to try and reach it that day.

 

 So as the sun lowered in the sky, two weary travellers trudged into the yard to be greeted by the bubbly Sarah, whose mother Ellen Redden owns and runs the centre but was on an evening out. But she had incidentally seen something about the ride on the internet and was happy to accommodate us.   Lady was turned out in a grassy paddock and I was shown to a luxurious camper trailer with a double bed and television!